• GRANT NUMBER: 101311025
• PROJECT TITLE: From WIdening to urban Sustainability innovation and Excellence
• PROJECT LEADER: Michael Mrissa, PhD
• PERIOD: 1. 9. 2026 – 31. 8. 2030
• BUDGET: 4.984.935,00 EUR (742.210,00 EUR for UP)
• FINANCING: Horizon Europe
• PROJECT COORDINATOR: UP FAMNIT
• PARTNERS: Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Portugal), University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria), Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonia), Mariupol State University (Ukraine), Saarland University (Germany), University of Alicante (Spain), University of Trieste (Italy), Jean Monnet University (Saint-Étienne, France), Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region (Slovenia), Municipality of Saarlouis (Germany), iQwood d.o.o. (Slovenia), AISPECO Ltd. (Lithuania), INNOVAWOOD ASBL (Belgium)

WISE builds on the strategic framework of the Transform4Europe (T4EU) University Alliance to accelerate R&I integration between Widening and Advanced partners, in a 4-year, €4.98M project. WISE focuses on urban sustainability as a unifying, high-impact domain for the EU and consortium partners, and a test-bed for piloting EU excellence frameworks that can be scaled across other domains and universities. WISE gathers 16 organisations, incl. 11 HEIs (7 Widening, 4 Advanced) and 5 non-academic partners, structured in a quadruple-helix. WISE is set to:

i) Raise scientific excellence & knowledge valorisation. WISE implements institutional reforms targeting CoARA implementation and RMA professionalization in 6-7 HEIs by 2030, while introducing a foresight-driven governance to align roadmaps that anticipate emerging R&I trends.

ii) Improve global competitiveness & visibility of HEIs by creating critical mass in urban sustainability. WISE runs 3 cross-border/-sectoral seed projects engaging 12 partners and delivering ≥6 OA publications, ≥9 KERs and a strong pipeline of EU proposals. It also fosters lasting cooperation across academia, industry, public authorities and civil society by formalizing a Community of Practice connecting HEIs to local, regional, national and international R&I ecosystems.

iii) Improve researchers’ careers. WISE promotes transferable skills and balanced talent circulation via a Skills Academy with 39 training modules and 16 mobility schemes for ≥900 staff. It also embeds fair research assessment, diversity, gender equality, inclusiveness and open science, FAIR-data management, OA publishing and citizen-science engagement. WISE stands as a scalable blueprint for transforming Widening HEIs into excellence-driven, globally connected institutions, enabling equitable collaboration and developing balanced, resilient knowledge ecosystems that advance the objectives of WIDERA.